Falling Backwards
by Tofu-Monstrosity
Summary: Rainbow Dash has done it again. She's crashed and hurt herself. But this time it's not just physical injuries that her and her friends have to deal with. Rainbow Dash's brain was severely traumatized so it's up to her friends to nurse her back to health. But can they deal with this new Rainbow Dash?


**Also found here on Fimfiction: story/166262/falling-backwards**

**I don't own ponies.**

"Ok, now you gotta watch this!" Called the sky blue mare with the prismatic mane a few dozen feet in the air. The violet alicorn rolled her purple eyes below her.

"You've shown me nearly everything Rainbow Dash!" She called up to her friend, recalling the various loop-de-loops, barrel rolls, spins, dives, twists and turns the daredevil pegasus already showed her.

"Not everything!" And with that the prismatic mare flew higher into the partly cloudy sky. A part of her doing that the weather was so nice today. The fall had just begun and already the air was feeling crisp and cool. Smirking, Rainbow Dash soared through the sky, showing off yet another of her tricks to one of her friends. This time, she was sure she would make it into the Wonderbolts! This was better than the sonic rainboom she was sure of it!

Twilight Sparkle, new alicorn princess, watched on as her friend spiraled high up into the air until the only thing that set her apart from the sky was her multicolored mane. She watched as Rainbow Dash zoomed across the sky, collecting a few of the scattered clouds in her wake, she circled pulling them tighter until they were one huge cloud.

Twilight knew from her studies of weather patterns that this accumulation of water vapor causes friction and can create a storm cloud. Rainbow Dash knew this too as she formed a bigger storm cloud. It was entirely in her control as she soared higher, leaving the cloud at a reasonable altitude. She pushed herself higher into the troposphere. Twilight bit her lip, her stomach dropping at the sight of her friend so high up beyond the clouds. From extensive study, Twilight knew that the higher one goes into the atmosphere, the thinner and colder the air gets. However, she also knew that pegasi were adapted to flying at high altitudes. Just how high, no pony knew.

Twilight saw her friend hesitate for a split second before changing direction and plummeting towards the ground. Twilight felt her heart start to beat faster as Rainbow Dash gained speed; on the threshold of a Sonic Rainboom she hit the storm cloud waiting in her wake. The result was spectacular.

Rainbow lightning shot from the cloud in all directions. It was absolutely marvelous and blinding. Streaks of red, yellow, orange, blue, green and purple danced across the sky in what Twilight assumed was a five-mile radius. It was spectacular and she watched with her mouth agape. It took only seconds to realize that the mare responsible for the beautiful light show was nowhere to be seen. Panic crept into the young alicorn as she searched the sky for her friend. She couldn't see anything.

Shakily, still not used to her new wings, Twilight Sparkle took to the air to look for her friend. "No, no, no, no, no…" Twilight murmured to herself as she scanned the sky and ground.

Suddenly, below her was a speck of blue and rainbow clashing against the green grass of an open field. She bolted towards the ground. Getting close enough to teleport she appeared at Rainbow's side.

The sight before her was one she will forever wish to get out of her mind. Rainbow laid on the ground. A dark red pool beneath her, her head was gashed and dripping blood. Her legs were badly broken and her wings…Twilight couldn't look at them without wanting to vomit. Her mind went into overdrive. She had to get Rainbow Dash to the hospital. But her training grounds were a good few miles away from Ponyville. Twilight had to think fast.

She remembered a spell she learned when she was researching pony anatomy. It was a bind spell. Anything to get that wound on Dash's head to stop bleeding. She just prayed to Celestia that her brain didn't swell. She alit her magic and concentrated hard. Her analytical brain was already conjuring the spell while she suppressed the sheer panic and terror that she was feeling.

Soon the spell was cast and mended the wound on Dash's head. Twilight breathed a sigh of relief. But the unconscious, badly torn up pegasus before her shocked her out of her revere. She summoned a quick fix spell. Her studies of healing magic were limited, but she was able to at least get the bones back in place in Rainbow Dash's legs. She didn't even want to look at Rainbow's wings.

After that was done, Twilight carefully formed a magical stretcher underneath the pegasus and started walking. She had to get Rainbow Dash out of here. All she had to do was get on the edge of Ponyville and she could teleport to the hospital. The only problem is that Ponyville was a few miles away still.

A thought occurred to Twilight. She can fly now. Looking back at her unconscious friend she breathed a deep breath and extended her wings like she has seen the brash pegasus do so many times. With a flap she hovered in the air. Making sure that her magic rapport was still intact she flew clumsily towards Ponyville.

Once she saw the small town and the hospital in the distance she felt relief wash over her. She was close enough to teleport. She touched down just outside the village and gently placed Rainbow on the ground. Since her magic wasn't strong enough to hold the pegasus and teleport them at the same time. She quickly conjured the spell and the two disappeared with a "pop" only to appear inside the hospital waiting room with another "pop".

Everypony in the waiting room jerked back with shock as the lavender alicorn appeared out of thin air with her mangled, badly bleeding and barely breathing friend in tow.

"She needs help!" Twilight demanded. Immediately two nurses were on the spot and with magical help, lifted Rainbow Dash onto a stretcher and whisked her away. Leaving Twilight Sparkle alone in the waiting room with one thought on her mind. Now she had to tell her friends about all this.

As soon as they heard, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie were in the hospital waiting room with Twilight Sparkle who hadn't stopped pacing. Sadly, it was a place that they were all too familiar with, Rainbow Dash being the clumsy mare that she was. However, this time the stakes were much higher.

"She's been in surgery for two hours now…" Applejack hollowly stated as she stared at the clock absentmindedly as she had been for the past two hours. Her hat was being toyed with in her hooves.

"That just means they're patching her up real good right?" Pinkie Pie asked as her mane and tail, both usually an unruly disaster was flat against her. She was repeatedly tapping her hoof on the floor.

"Of course, just a few more stitches and she'll be back on her hooves in no time." Rarity prayed for the best but it was obviously a lost cause as she held Fluttershy in her hooves whose sobs had now turned into whimpers.

Twilight hesitated in her pacing as Rarity's words sunk in. She hadn't been there to see what Dash looked like. She hadn't seen the mess the pegasus was. The way her head was bleeding, the bones protruding from her legs, the mangled mess her wings were. Rainbow Dash will be lucky if she can ever walk or much less fly ever again.

Just then a doctor entered the waiting room. All of the ponies present stopped to look at him. His caramel coat and brown mane were nothing spectacular but the best thing the mares had seen all day.

"I'm looking for the kin of a…" he looked at his clipboard. "Miss Rainbow Dash?" He looked at the five mares in the room. Applejack tore her eyes away from the wall, Pinkie Pie looked up from her hooves, Rarity turned away from Fluttershy and she stopped her whimpering.

"We're it." Twilight said, stopping her pacing, a look of hope in her face.

"Are you her kin?" He asked, raising an eyebrow in doubt. The mare in question had no doubt been here before.

"Well, no but we're all she has." Twilight explained. The doctor stallion nodded and looked back at his clipboard.

"Surgery went well. Both her left and right metacarpal suffered compound fractures. The second and third ribs on her right side were both complicated fractures, and pierced her lung. Her right femur suffered a hairline fracture. Her left tibia sustained a multiple fracture. She tore her left hind suspensory ligament and her left front radial carpal extensor muscle. As for her wings, the radius, ulna and humerus of both wings suffered multiple fractures not to mention the loss of a significant amount of feathers." He explained, reading off the clipboard. Twilight's face went pale while the others looked at each other. The doctor looked up at them.

"Thanks to you Twilight Sparkle, her legs should heal soon. We were able to patch the lung, and repair the muscles." He continued. "Her wings were badly broken but they'll reset soon." The mare's faces lit up in excitement. Twilight's however, stayed pale. "But I'm afraid that we were only able to fix her physical injuries." He sighed. That was what Twilight was afraid of. "Her brain suffered massive trauma and bleeding." He started to say. Twilight felt her stomach do summersaults. This could only mean bad things. "We have her on sedatives right now. She shouldn't wake up for another hour now. I'm afraid she has suffered severe brain damage."

That was it.

That was the only sentence needed to send the mares into hysterics. Fluttershy fell into fits of sobs. Rarity screamed in agony and sobbed with the canary pegasus so they were both a blubbering heap. Applejack, who never let herself shed a tear, openly wailed into her hooves. Pinkie Pie on the contrary sat dead still and stared off into space as if her mind had checked out as silent tears fell from her eyes while she made no move to brush them away.

Twilight Sparkle hid her emotions, trying to keep her cool. "What kind of brain damage are we talking about here doctor?" She asked as if she were talking about a pony she didn't know. He sighs.

"She woke up from the anesthesia about half an hour ago." He explained. Twilight's ears perked up. If she did then why did he just now come out to tell them this? And why was she back under sedation? "She…" this was getting hard for him to say. "She screamed and thrashed around, ignoring her injuries and flailing about. It took four of my strongest nurses to hold her down while I and another doctor sedated her again." He recalled. Twilight sat on her flank in shock at the news. The doctor looked up at the four ponies that were obviously not taking the news well. "When she wakes up, she'll need a familiar face. Do you know of any next of kin we can contact?"

It was Twilight's turn to get choked up. "No, her family is dead. We are the only ones." Twilight's voice was raspy as her barrier that she held up to keep her emotions at bay was starting to crack. The doctor sighed again.

"Then I will have to ask one of you to stay the night." He said. Twilight nodded. She looked back at her friends then to the doctor. "I'll do it." She stated, after all, she felt responsible for this whole ordeal.

"Very well, I will let you gather your things for the night and come back, tell the receptionist you're here for Miss Rainbow Dash and we'll get you set up." He nodded curtly and exited through the swinging metal doors.

Twilight hung her head and let a few tears fall. She can't be weak. Not at a time like this. She turned to her friends. "Girls." She stated, her voice flat and barely heard over the hysterical cries. "Girls!" She shouted, this got their attention and they all turned to look at the purple alicorn, a few tears adorning her face now as well. Rarity and Fluttershy's cries turned into whimpers, Applejack coughed, trying to stop her own sobs and Pinkie Pie just turned and faced her silently. "They want one of us to spend the night here with Rainbow. I offered to do it." She explained.

"Twilight, aren't you tired enough as it is?" Applejack asked. Twilight held up a hoof to stop her protests.

"I've made my decision. Now it's best you all get home and get some sleep." Twilight informed. Fluttershy opened her mouth to protest, but the look of determination that Twilight held on her face was enough to make her close her mouth and obey.

Silently, all of the mares filed out of the hospital. They were about to go their separate ways when Fluttershy stopped.

"Girls?" Her soft voice stopped all the mares in their tracks. "I don't want to be alone tonight." She scuffed at the ground timidly with a hoof. Rarity walked up to her and wrapped a hoof around her shoulder.

"I don't want to be alone either, Dear." Rarity admitted.

"Ah have plenty of room. Ya'll can stay with me tonight." Applejack offered, her hat still in her hooves. Pinkie nodded and all four of them walked into the night.

Twilight watched them go off to Applejack's. Probably none of them will sleep tonight. She doubted she would either.

She walked back to the library in solidarity, left alone with her thoughts. She entered the dark library where Spike ran to meet her.

"Is everything ok? What about Rainbow Dash? Twilight what's going on?" He bombarded her with questions. Twilight shook her head slowly.

"Not right now Spike" Twilight murmured. He watched her as she walked up the stairs, alighting her magic to grab her saddlebags.

"Well what are you doing then?" He asked, climbing up the stairs and watching her pack her things.

"The doctors want somepony to stay with Dash for the night." Twilight explained.

"So it's really bad isn't it?" Spike asked, his tone dropping.

"Yes." Was all Twilight said as she threw her saddlebags over herself. "I'll be back…later…" She stated, unsure of when she will be back. "Think you can handle the library while I'm gone?" She turned back towards him, a playful tone in her voice as she tried to regain a sense of normalcy. He smiled and saluted.

"Your number one assistant is at your service!" He smiled. She giggled a bit despite her sadness and headed for the door. He followed, seeing her out. As she reached the threshold Spike spoke up. "Oh and Twilight?" She turned around to look at him before stepping into the moonlit night. "If you need anything let me know." He said sincerely. Twilight smiled honestly and she headed back to the hospital.

Twilight entered the empty waiting room. She trotted up to the receptionist. "Hi I'm Twilight Sparkle. I'm here for…" She started to say but the mint-colored mare stopped her.

"Miss Rainbow Dash." She finished, her voice was sad. "She woke up a few minutes ago actually. It would be good for her to see a familiar face." She assured and got up from the desk and ushered Twilight back to the patient rooms.

Ponyville General Hospital was barely that. It consisted of a few patient rooms where they often put multiple ponies in the same room due to space constrictions. Twilight was surprised to find only Rainbow Dash's name on the door to a room. Inside she could hear screaming and that made her visibly cringe. The nurse slowly opened the door for Twilight to walk inside.

The sight in front of her caused her heart to sink. Rainbow Dash was in a bed; her wings were bandaged tightly to her sides strangling the only thing the pegasus truly loved more than life itself. Twilight's eyes fell to a bandage covering the incision on her friend's chest; it hurt Twilight to even think her friend could be hurt so bad that she even needed surgery. Twilight looked to the pegasus' thrashing head. She had started to whip the bandages off and they were hanging like tendrils from her face that was scrunched in pain and her eyes were tightly closed. She threw her legs about as much as she could since they too were swathed in the sterile wrappings and were bound to the bed using restraints normally used on unruly patients. There were four strong stallions in the room trying to hold her down to keep her from ripping her stitches. The perspiration was visible on the stallion's foreheads as they were trying to resist the strong pegasus.

Twilight could only stare as Rainbow Dash shook, tears filling her clenched-shut eyes. The nurse beside Twilight levitated a needle and syringe in her magic and carefully injected it into Rainbow's IV. Slowly Rainbow Dash relaxed. The nurses let go of their restraint on her and she put up no fight. The nurse signaled for Twilight to get closer to see her friend.

Twilight nodded and saddled up to the side of the bed as her friend opened her rosy eyes. "Mommy?" She asked faintly before falling back to sleep.


End file.
